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[IC] Pariah Online: A Voyage into the Intangible Aether Page 12

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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Mcmolly
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Mcmolly D-List Cryptid

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Location: The Laughing Worg -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

Seele wasn’t silly, she could take a hint well enough. It was clear their conversation was nearing its close, and that perhaps now it was best that she give Rael some space, either to be alone, or to seek solace in someone else’s company. Whatever worked for her, whatever she needed to do to…be alright, that’s what Seele wanted for her.

“Well, I’d never want you to lie; might as well be building your bridges out of paper, in that case. It isn’t a matter of self-preservation, I just meant that, if you—oh, I’m starting again, aren’t I? Anyway, I’ll get out of your hair now. It was nice getting to talk to you, Rael. I hope we can do it again, maybe under happier circumstances next time.” She smiled again, stood up from the table, and gave the girl a wink. “Oh, and, I’m always going to worry, just a little. I’m your support after all, that’s my job.”

Someone shouted below. “Excuse me,” she said.

And with that, she left the second floor behind. It would have been a lie to say it had gone perfectly, but then again, in Seele’s mind perfectly would have been Rael and Alja and Kalie all hugging out their differences over a pop and some grilled cheese. Lofty expectations, sure, but she put a pin in them anyway and filed them away under: “one day.” For what it was though, it was enough.

Now all she needed to do was—

“Hey!”
…
"It is my fault."
…
"Don't you throw that in my face!"
…
Seele stood three or four steps up from the ground floor, blinking, a bit dumbstruck. It couldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes, right? She was absolutely certain that when she’d left, the lot of them, Alja and Rael aside, had been getting on just splendidly. Had time slipped her again? Had there been another glitch? What—and this could not be emphasized enough—the frick?

The matron from earlier with the exceptional de-escalation skills had made her way over to the group, which could have meant only bad things. They were about to get themselves thrown out onto the street in what was undoubtedly the most tumultuous time in any of their lives. Over what? What had happened?

Seele pinched the bridge of her nose, took a deep breath.
…
It didn’t matter. Whatever it was, they could move past it—they would have to. And if they couldn’t, then group or not, Seele had made the choice to stick by these people. They had survived something awful together, and not words, not even fists, was going to change that. She was not going to abandon them. Any of them.

Graves’s shouting brought her back. She watched him storm out of the tavern. His words were clear, disconcerting, but a challenge was a challenge. Shortly after, Kazuki and Benkei followed suit looking about as dejected as Graves was grumpy. Fine. She hurried outside, giving Alex a sympathetic nod for the effort he’d put into defusing the situation. He really was such a nice boy, even if he was also a little sloshed.

To her surprise, Rael had already caught up to Graves. Fair enough, the girl was perhaps not so great with softer emotions, but something told Seele she was well-equipped to handle shouting and anger. So she turned her attentions to the other two. Benkei had vanished into the streets, but Kazuki was taller and tall people tended to lope when they were sad—much easier to spot. She broke into a jog and, eventually, caught up to him.

“Kazu—ooph,” she hunched, took a few breaths. She should have buffed herself first. “I know what you said, and I’ll go if you really, really want to be alone, but I really, really, really-er think that maybe being alone right now isn’t a great idea. You can still walk around and think and I’ll be extra quiet if that’s what you want, but I would also love some help looking for Benkei. We should all at least be,” she made a vague, gathering gesture, finally regaining her wind. “Oh, you get it.”
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Hidden 4 yrs ago → 3 yrs ago Post by mickilennial
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mickilennial The Elder Fae

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Location: The Laughing Worg Tavern, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria


There was more yelling. Benkei, Kazuki, and Graves ran out of the tavern. Seele chased them. His sister looked absolutely dumb-stricken with her mouth open. He couldn’t hear it, the bar counter was too far away, though he didn’t really care to try to focus on that as his eyes remained on Kalie who was trying to put on her strongest face. Her eyes were still running with tears, it was clear that something had happened and while he suspected Rael maybe Rael had just been additional pain? It didn’t matter. What he cared about was the girl he liked was in some kind of pain. The burial of Aaginim hurt for all of them and everyone had dealt with it in several ways. Some people broke sooner. Others later. But Siegfried was good with repairs. He was going to college for that kind of thing, after all.

Kalie thanked him and spoke of her real name. That kind of thing wasn’t common in Pariah, though he supposed everyone who had survived the glitch had room to remove their personas. Siegfried never role-played. Never put on a face. People didn’t like it but what they saw of him in game was what he was like in real life; a guy who had a little bit of a temper, but generally did the right thing. A hard worker. Siegfried was about as far as he went when making a persona but there was really no Siegfried persona.

“James Androvski. Friends call me Jimmy.” He said with a smile as he watched her finish eating the food the denizen had made for her.

He wasn’t thinking much. His arm hurt a lot. But he acted on his own as he rose his fingers to her face, wiping it clean of her tears.

“You’re going to make it through this.” He said, “I’ve got your back. Alright?”

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Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by Lemons
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Lemons Resident Of The Bargain Bin

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As tempers rose at the table, so did Alja. She surged to her feet, eyebrows already drawing together above her head. Her mouth opened to spark out another snap like she'd done at Rael.

And then she...

and then...

and then


The snow had turned to rain. Pouring rain that beat down upon her. She cried out, holding her arms above her head ion a futile effort to shelter herself against the onslaught. The drops of rain hit her like hammerblows, and it was all she could do not cry.

Then she heard a voice somewhere, calling out her name. So faint through the pounding rains, but there nonetheless.
"Kelly!"
"Kelly! Where are you?"

Kelly's heart swelled, and through the bloody-red (bloody?) downpour, a smile came to her face, small though it was. "Is that you, ███████? I'm over here! Hurry! I can't see!"

"Kelly! KELLY!"

The smile left her face. Something felt suddenly...wrong. Her next shout was filled with an urgency that hadn't been in the first. "Hello? ███████! Can't you hear me? I said I'm over here!"

"Kelly!"
"Kelly!"
"Kelly!"
"Kelly!"

Then the noise of the rain overtook the voice. Kelly was alone again.

This time, she let herself cry.

...
"AH!"

Alja jolted awake. She gripped the side of her face, groaning. What...ugh. What just happened...?

Then her eyes shot wide, and she looked around. The table. Where was everyone? Where had Benkei gone? Where were Graves and Kazuki? There was a fight brewing, and then...

She threw an urgent glance to the side, her head pounding. She'd bitten her tongue, and her mouth tasted like blood. "Alex! What...what happened? Where did they go?"
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Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by Landaus Five-One
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Landaus Five-One The Sadist Insaneous One

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Location: The Laughing Worg Tavern, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria



One or two things always causes her to be a bit over-dramatic from time to time, and it’s how she is. These factors cause her to try to be everyone’s friends, even if they don’t want to be. However, there was a voice of reason right beside her, and she wasn’t going to ignore his advice. On her face was a bit of shock on hearing the name and what his friends call him. She couldn’t help but slightly giggle because it was a bit funny to say to her, but she was having problems. It’s a common thing with her always being a bit self-defeatist in most of her goals, trying to allow others to sabotage her.

” Hehe, that’s a cool name you got, Jimmy.”

Kalie spoke the truth with the words she said because he was smiling to help her. It didn’t come to much shock to her that he cleaned her tears from her eyes. She genuinely smiled back at him with what he said next. It was good to have someone there, and she still had half of her ale left, but she finished the plate of food.

” I do hope so too.” She said, ” Thank you for having my back.”

She was feeling slightly better because Jimmy was here for her. It was honestly kind of endearing. It was mostly because she never had anyone have her back or even help her out with her problems. Kalie had always deal with every little thing by herself. What happened in this game was what broke the camel's back by the announcement of being stuck in it. It does help her future in stone with how much time she invests in becoming an English Teacher. Her favorite subject is English, and it felt like the perfect fit for her. ’ I need to stay alive for the sake of being an English Teacher.’ Kalie thought to herself. She sighs softly and moves the ale she got away from her, basically not wanting any more of it. If she drinks anymore of it, she might get more drunk than she feels right now. It was a bit hard to focus right now with all that is happening.
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Hidden 4 yrs ago → 2 yrs ago Post by mickilennial
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mickilennial The Elder Fae

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Location: City Streets, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria


As the group reacted to the events around them, it appeared the day was only just now beginning. It was still early in the afternoon and the heat wasn’t going away. For some people, it was the kind of sweltering heat that broke you. Made you mad. It was hard to think straight and that wasn’t accounting for the stress of losing people or the glitch basically telling you that this was it.

Thorinn had yet to be hurt too much by it, but Benkei’s group was not the only ones to be swept up in arguments and escalations with denizens. They would not be the last.


The Thoros River ran through the Red District all the way to the Waking Sea where Thorinn’s precarious harbor stood overlooking the great bed of water.

Benkei’s feelings were tense and emotions were running high after the standoff between Kazuki and Graves. People had went their separate ways for the time being and he had found himself sitting on the road overlooking the riverbed as people and carts went by him every few seconds. There was a melancholy as a school of red snapper swam forward—how many had he caught? It wasn’t a huge thought as a peppy, but beaten female voice came from behind before the appearance of a girl not too much shorter than him took a seat next to him.

“You look like you could use a friend.” She had said, without introducing herself. “Think a lot of people could. It sucks. Nobody’s supposed to die in here. Nobody’s supposed to have panic attacks. We’re all reeling.”

If Benkei looked at the girl at first he might have thought it was Priscilica, but it wasn’t. Another girl with sharp pink hair and a similar voice. He’d never seen her before.

“The river helps doesn’t it? Makes you forget about everything for a minute.”
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by DruSM157
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DruSM157 Nobody

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Location:The Riverside- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria



“The river helps doesn’t it? Makes you forget about everything for a minute.”

"Helps to try, I guess." Benkei couldn't even attempt to look friendly at this point. His emotions were too wild, and everything was rushing in his head. He wanted it to stop, but he knew there was no spell or potion to fix scars that deep.

“Imagine how hard it’s gonna be tomorrow, or the next day. My group thinks that it is only going to get worse.” She said, a little tinge in her voice as she did so. “What’s left of my group, anyway.”

“I’m sorry.” Benkei frowned. They weren’t the only ones to lose people. That was obvious anyways. “We lost several. Everyone’s still reeling--I…” he trailed off, looking down at the water. “I’m still reeling from it too. I thought I could strengthen everyone’s hopes and resolve with plans, to discuss a strategy on how to make the best of where we’re at. But tempers flared and I made things worse by running my mouth. So that dream is pretty much dead.”

“That bad, huh?”

Bad didn’t even begin to describe the monumental fuck-up that was Hoshizawa Kazuma. In less than a minute, he’d undone every plan that he’d spent the entire day working on, all the discussion, everything. And he knew he’d do it again if the situation was the same. He couldn’t back down from a fight if his brother was involved. It was his weakness; that the one person in the world that he would die for was stuck in this death game alongside him. “Yeah. It’s pretty awful.”

She nodded as she looked toward the sun, “People will come around. Fights are only normal when the stakes are high. Best we can do is try. We’re not gonna survive alone. I don’t know anything about your group, but, you were together for a reason right?

Survive? Did he even want to survive? What did he have back home waiting for him? Hell, would his mother even care that her son was most likely trapped? That he’d most likely die? Probably not. They’d probably put him away in a government run hospital, and sue the hell out of the game company. They’d take the cash, use it to buy whatever the hell they wanted, and they’d forget about him. If he lived? They’d tell him to get the hell out. If he died? They’d probably toast his death. What reason had his group joined together? It was ultimately a test. A test for him.

His stomach tightened into knots. Luci blamed Kazuki but he knew it was his fault. If Aaginim didn’t try to recruit him, they wouldn’t have gone into the dungeon and- He realized he’d been staring out into space for a few seconds. “It wasn’t much of a reason. And…” he sighed. “We were all together because of me. And three people died in that dungeon. So ultimately, when everyone really starts to think about it, everything is all my fault.”

“No, it isn’t. It’s whoever is hacking this game’s fault. You probably didn’t even notice things until you were already in the dungeon and you couldn’t turn back.” She looked at him, frowning, “You can’t blame yourself for a freak accident. Just like my cousin can’t keep blaming herself for what happened to us; and we weren't even in a dungeon. People died yesterday. For no reason.”

“You’re too positive.” Benkei grumbled, burying his face into his hands again and groaning. For him, there was no positivity, there was no silver lining. It was all his fault. And he was too much of a coward to take responsibility for it.


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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by HokumPocus
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HokumPocus RATS WE'RE THE RATS WE ARE THE RATS

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Location: The Laughing Worg -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

The commotion in the tavern deflated as the bulk of its quarreling patrons left. Alex deflated too, letting out a large breath that made his shoulders sag. Their plans of being reunited had been all but extinguished, with Alex unable to have even protested Kazuki removing his hand. Him, Graves, Benkei, Seele. All of them had left the Laughing Worg in some form of discontent or another.

Alex stood in place, slowly taking in the now empty seats before him. He wondered if this was the eventual fate of every group in Pariah, players prioritizing their own survival so much that they pushed everyone else away in the process. It was a sad thought, as it painted their situation in a far more depressing light; It made it seem less like a possibly deadly prolonged stay in a game and more like an apocalypse or something, where people hoarded resources and spent every waking moment thinking death was just around the corner. And with the denizens beginning to display remarkable feats of power, it was all too much. He cursed at himself for having tried to drink his anxiousness away. He needed his mind for too many things right now.

A sudden noise made his head spin, for a tad longer than usual given his current state. Alja.

"Er," he shook his head, trying to focus, "Graves, Kazuki, Benkei, Seele. All of them left." He supported his temple with the palm of his hand. "Things got bad real quick. No real fighting 'cause of the NPCs, but the stuff some of them said to each other was probably worse." The urgency in her tone was undeniable, and he was unsatisfied after only one shot at getting everyone back together. The idea that popped into his head was obvious, then.

"We might've drunken too much, but damn it, we've gotta go find them!"


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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Hero
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Kazuki was tired.

The obvious answer was that he had gotten maybe two hours of sleep combined, but he felt like his very soul was weighing him down. Maybe he should look into Buddhism, having no earthly attachments sounded really good right now. The air was sticky and his stupid robe was starting to cling to him. He needed a bath. And a proper change of clothes. He was sure he probably had one of his beginner outfits somewhere in the house. A bath, some food, then he'd let himself collapse into bed and let his thoughts overwhelm him as his emotionally stunted self refused to let him cope healthily. Actually, he could use that time to study the texts he had bought.

It was exceedingly difficult not to think about the fiasco in the tavern, but for once, he didn't linger. No matter how many times he replayed the scenario in his head, it would have ended the same way. He would admit in hindsight that he probably looked like a hypocrite--all his talk of banding together and then turning around and wanting to exclude someone wasn't the smartest idea he had. He shouldn't have brought it up right away; any trust he had gained was definitely gone. He probably wouldn't get another chance, either.

Oh well, he could always take up Robin's offer and go to Iblenar. It actually wasn't the worst idea now that he thought about it. He and Hammer could pool together their wealth and hole up for a long while. He could throw himself into crafting completely and perform in his spare time. He didn't think they'd have any issue if he brought along Kazuma, either. They could always teach him to craft, too, Kazuma was smart enough that he would learn, he was sure of it.

The sound of Seele's voice had surprised him, though hearing that Kazuma had also left didn't. As tempted as he was to take her up on her offer, he couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh. He was headed home anyway, he may as well keep going. "Benkei just needs time to cool off. He'll be fine," Kazuki finally replied, giving Seele a weary look. "I don't understand why you're here. Did you get the full story, or did you come running after me without thinking?"
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Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by Lemons
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Lemons Resident Of The Bargain Bin

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"You're right, Alex. You're right."

Alja shoved herself to her feet, clenching her teeth. "Our best chance is together, and it's...really dumb to split up like this. We need to keep each other safe." She heaved out a deep breath, screwing her eyes closed for a moment. She'd had a strange, disconcerting dream, but couldn't quite remember it...ah well. She'd think more about this when she had more time. Her eyes snapped open. "I'll go see if I can find Benkei. Dunno where he went, but I'll find him."

She cracked her knuckles. She was so incredibly antsy. The smart thing, she knew, would probably be to ask Alex what direction Benkei had gone. But she desperately needed to move. And so, with a quick call back to Alex--"If someone tries to take my armor, mind shootin' them in the side of the leg?"--she slogged out into the humid heat of Thorinn. She started sweating almost before she started walking. Kelly liked the cold, and Alja was the same similar; this kind of heat was something she could really, honestly do without. But, if nothing else...combined with the time since her last drink and the brief spat of unconsciousness, it sobered her up pretty quick. She made her way through the streets, keeping her eyes peeled for her fellow tank as she walked along the bank of the river. And as she moved, she tried to puzzle this out with her social brain:

Alright. What caused this?

Distrust of Kalie jumped to mind first. But no, that wasn't really it, was it? That was Kazuki's deal. And, as she'd discovered from listening in on the argument, she knew that they were brothers. She winced. That would make this hard. There was something that flickered in the back of her mind about the way he was acting--something familiar about him--but, though she pondered it, she couldn't place it.

Another breath. When she was dealing with bullies in high school, she'd learned a few breathing exercises to bury negative emotions like anger. And, as she'd just seen illustrated one more time, unleashing negative emotions tended to have...questionable results for her. So, the steady breathing continued as she compartmentalized.

And, before she could ponder it much more, she...well, she got lucky, and Benkei came into view. Alja's eyebrow quirked--Priscilica? No. Similar looking, but not her. Looked like they were talking about something serious. She took one more of those deep, steady breaths, thinking for a second about what she was going to say. And then she buried the last of her frustration and what remained of her boiling anger deep down within her. Her thunderstorm eyebrows lightened for the first time since she'd woken up. And then:

"Yo, boss."

She walked up next to him, taking the other side from the pink-haired Priscilica lookalike and staring out over the river. "Not gonna ask if you're okay, 'cause that's dumb. You're clearly not." She stretched her arms over her head. "You don't strike me as the type who's a fan of bein' pressed to talk. So I won't. But," she turned, giving him a small smile, gentler than the typical fare, "If you want to talk, I'm always here."
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Supermaxx
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Supermaxx dumbass

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Location: City Streets - City of Thorinn, Aetheria


Rael's shouting brought him to a halt. Before he'd turned around he knew she wanted to catch up to him. Couldn't say why- she'd shown a remarkable ability to not care about other people. "Don't follow me!" Graves yelled back as he spun around. He wasn't in the mood. Wasn't in the mood to talk, or be talked at, or chewed out for his lack of manners. Anger still flowed through his veins, burning and raging like a wildfire. If he'd thought removing himself from the situation would cool him down, he'd been wrong.

But Rael didn't listen- typical- and came trapezing out of the tavern's second floor to run after him. Graves had half a mind to just keep walking. He didn't. He stood there, letting his choler rise with the volume of his voice.

"Are you deaf or do you just enjoy pissin' me off?"

"What's your frickin' problem, tank-for-brains?"

He'd spun back around before she had two words out and kept walking. Walking with long, purposeful strides in the vague direction he knew his destination to be. It was a place he'd walked by a handful of times, maybe, but Graves rarely got lost. Tracking people down was how he'd made a name for himself, after all.

"I leave you for five minutes and Benkei starts shit with you? What the hell?"

Her questions went unanswered for more than a minute. They just went on walking together through the crowded city streets, with Graves barreling his way through anyone stupid enough to not move aside. He still wasn't calming down. His blood pressure was through the roof. "I started the shit. S'what I do." Graves snarled. "His arrogant, self-righteous, hypocrite-of-a-brother was talkin' out one side of his mouth about teamwork n' unity n' all this other shit, and outta the other he was talkin' about abandoning Kalie 'cause she's- she's normal."

Just verbalizing everything that was banging around inside his skull was enough to reheat the fire. He wasn't even trying to keep it under control at this point; he didn't care who heard him yelling. He didn't care that people were looking at him like some kinda freak. It'd all been too much. Everything. All of it was just building and building on top of each other like a tower of misery up to the heavens and Graves couldn't take it anymore.

"'Cause all this scares her. 'Cause everything that's goin' on is too much. 'Cause unlike most'a our gang of losers, fuck-ups and loners, she actually has somethin' to lose." He turned his head to look at Rael over his shoulder. "Same reason you yelled at her, really."

"I yelled at her because..." She paused, looking at the ground for a moment. "...because she was being annoying. Don't even know why. I snapped."

"Can't stand her either. That RP shit's for kids and dorks."

She sighed audibly as she rose her hand to her face as if she had a migraine.

"It was... I dunno. Maybe Alja is right about me. Whatever. Not like I'd abandon anyone because they are annoying. Does Kazuki really want to ditch the weak members like that?"

He echoed Rael's sigh and slowed in his walk. "I dunno. I dunno what he wants, and I didn't give him time to explain. Said a lot of shit I shouldn't have and now the group's...done. Ain't something you come back from. Better off on my own, anyway."

"How lame. Giving up that easily."

"Didn't take you for the kumbaya type."

She rolled her eyes as she moved her hand from her face, "Never took you for the coward type."

That hit a nerve.

"What's going to happen to those morons without us?"

And that drove it home.

"God, you sound just like-" He threw up his hands and gave a frustrated groan. "-They're probably gonna charge off the nearest cliff like a pack of lemmings."

She smiled, "People like us aren't supposed to be the likeable ones. If you weren't busy being so upset you'd see that. We've got a different job."

They stopped walking. "You're a pain in my ass, I hope you know that."

"Yeah." She moved closer looking up at him as she did so, forcing absolute eye contact. "So what're you gonna do about it?"

Not one to back down from a challenge, Graves held his ground, bending his knees to get down to her level. After a beat of glaring at her he stood back up. "Still not over the ale thing- Imma get you back for it later. For now, there's work to be done."
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Mcmolly
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Mcmolly D-List Cryptid

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Location: City Streets -- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria


Seele tried to size him up, get a read, but the man was a sphynx. A sphynx with a dour look permanently carved into his silly, symmetrical face. Frankly, it felt a lot like dealing with Rael, only this time she had the benefit of already having dealt with someone like Rael. Brick walls they were, just different flavors of brick.

“Well, you certainly seem to know him better than I do, so if you think he’s alright…” she said, flapping a hand at her face and airing out the collar of her robe. The witchy look had always worked for her, but Thorinn wasn’t making it easy anymore. The humidity wasn’t so much the problem, she was used to that, but the sun was just dreadful. Suddenly, her dearly departed hat didn’t seem so silly anymore.

Kazuki still had a little sass left in him, it seemed, but she waved it off. “I’m here because it’s not safe for a young man to go wandering around the city alone, clearly. The place is a playground on Halloween, just swap out the sugar for mass panic, and the children for…well, bigger children, I suppose,” she said, gesturing around at the unprecedented bustle that had seized her patron city. Distantly she could hear more raucous shouting, likely from other wayfarers finding themselves in similarly tense situations. “And you know, at this point it feels like getting the full story would be like playing Telephone. It's probably all garbled and twisted up and not at all like what actually happened, I don’t think.”

She finally straightened up, took a deep breath of her own, and like that she was smiling again. “But you’re welcomed to tell it to me, if you like. Or we could just talk. You might have noticed I like talking maybe a bit too much, but I’m also good at listening. So, if you want me to zip up, you’ll just have to give me something to listen to.”
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Hero
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Kazuki definitely agreed with Seele's last sentence. He could also disagree with a lot of what she said--it was definitely more dangerous for a young lady to be alone. He didn't know why he mistook her for the quiet type, an odd discomfort bubbling up as he continued the walk to his home. Had he been too quick to assume she would be someone safe to be around? She was coming from a place of concern and hadn't done anything to prove otherwise, but it still made him uneasy. No, he shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. At the very least she came to him to get the truth unfiltered, so he couldn't really turn her away without making himself look worse. Not that the truth would be doing him any favors but he supposed it was easier to get things over with.

He only stopped once they were at the door to his small home, digging around his pockets for his keys before unlocking it. The miniscule kitchen looked like it had been shoved into the right corner closest to the door as an after thought, the entrance bearing a rug and a makeshift rack that held a pair of boots already there. A set of stairs lead to the sole bedroom, its door seen from even where they were. The rest of the home was plainly decorated, with a couch and chair placed around a coffee table and a small dining table with a pair of chairs close to the kitchen. At the far corner was a pair of doors and a piano whose quality far exceeded any other piece of furniture. It was homely, but noticeably spotless.

Slipping out of his shoes, he placed them respectfully on the rack before placing his bag on the coffee table. He gestured for Seele to have a seat, wandering into the kitchen and rummaging through the cabinets until he pulled out a kettle and a pair of cups. It had been a while since he had played the part of host, but he supposed he could put something together quickly. The hearth wasn't lit, but it roared back to life after a few snaps of the spark stones Kazuki clashed together. Pulling out a jug filled with water, he poured some into the kettle and placed it on the metal hanging over the fire. After pulling out a slice of what looked like a strawberry pastry from a pantry box, he carefully sliced it into four parts.

Even though he worked in silence, it wasn't uncomfortable. He was clearly focused on the task at hand, fingers working on the leaves in the cup before plucking the kettle from the hearth and pouring the water over it. No tray, but he brought everything by hand, placing a cup and plate of sweets before Seele and only taking a seat after he had his own cup in hand.

"I'll be upfront about what happened: it was my fault," Kazuki decided to get that much out of the way. "It's telling to talk about unity one moment and immediately speak of excluding someone in the next. I won't deny it, I thought solely in my own interest. Graves called me out on it and things escalated. Having trust in others isn't my strong suit and I let my bias get the best of me, resulting in the group...fracturing." Not that he thought they were together or anything, but that was what he figured.
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Hidden 4 yrs ago → 2 yrs ago Post by mickilennial
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mickilennial The Elder Fae

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Location: City Streets, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria


“You’re too positive.” The boy had said, making the girl look at him with concern.

It was one day and she had seen so many beaten people. People in her own group. People she had played with before. Some of them like this boy who she had never seen or talked to before. It was early in the afternoon and only one day since the terrible glitch was created by the unseen hacker. A person who had decided that it was his right to break thousands of people. She worried about the state of people’s minds if the days continued onward like this. For people to break so much after only one day how were they going to cope for a week? A month? It was a thought she had been thinking about all morning.

But for now she was doing as she always had. Lifting people up.

“The only thing I’m positive of is you’ve had really bad two days.” She said with a weak smile as she clutched his arm on instinct, like she’d do to her younger sister before she found herself trapped in this gamespace. “You’re strong. I don’t know you, but I can feel it.”

Before Benkei could look at her and reply a voice cut through from behind the two, the pink-haired girl’s eyes widened as she removed her hand from his arm before gathering her composure as Benkei moved to react to the voice as the much larger woman plopped on the riverside with them.

“See, your dream isn’t dead.” She said before standing up and brushing off the leaves from her skirt. “I’ll leave your friend to help. I need to check on my own group. Bye! See you around!”

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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Mcmolly
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Mcmolly D-List Cryptid

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Location: City Streets -- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria

Seele let out a low whistle as they entered Kazuki’s home. They slipped off their shoes—it had been awhile since she’d had to do that—and he motioned to a seat at the little dining table. She took the scenic route to get to it, going about admiring the pleasant simplicity. Neat, cozy, and she was hard-pressed to find even a spec of dust.

And, gods, the piano was just gorgeous. All of the instruments in Pariah had a bit of a fantastical flourish to them, but this was a quality piece. She didn’t dare touch it, and the questions bubbling up in her mind were shelved away for later.
…
Eventually she found her seat as Kazuki returned with tea and a delicious-looking pastry. She accepted gratefully, bowing, and took a few sips while Kazuki went into the details of what had happened at the tavern. The gist of it had been surmisable, but the way he talked—so certain and clinical, even about his own feelings. It was like he was reading off a prognosis.

She took a segment of the pastry and popped it into her mouth, brows raising at the taste. The breading was crisp and crumbly, the innards sweet and tangy. She’d been to real bakeries before that didn’t sell treats this good. It was a small relief that the glitch hadn’t just given flavor to the bitter, choking potions.

"Kazuki," Seele said, and made another satisfied "mm!" sound as she finished the rest of the piece. "You are an excellent host. You're also a terrible psychic."
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Hero
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The man couldn’t help but stare at Seele for a moment, a little surprised. No, a lot surprised. It wasn’t the reaction he expected, that much was for sure. He took a sip of his tea as he deliberated on how to respond. It wasn’t often that he was left speechless, but then again, it wasn’t often that he was willing to converse with anyone for more than five minutes. In her defense, she had definitely warned him, so this was on him.

Kazuki stared at Seele for a second before deciding to bite. “I don’t have any skill in Divination,” He told her, eyebrows furrowed. “So I’m not sure what you mean.”

For what it was worth, she appeared not to have expected his response either. She covered her mouth to smile, then shook her head. “Sorry, I shouldn’t try to be funny, I’m dreadful at it. What I meant was, I don’t think things have gone as badly as you think they have.”

That was where he disagreed, shaking his head as he looked down at his cup. “All I could do last night was go over my kit and think of all the different things I could have done. Could Aaginim have lived if I had made a different decision? In the heat of the moment you can only act, there isn’t time to deliberate. The demon made quick work of them--and would have likely done the same to us if it hadn’t been for the rest of the group giving it everything they had.”

The levity seemed to leave her, just a bit, and her smile weakened with sympathy. “You make it sound like you weren’t even there.”

“I may as well have not been. It didn’t make a difference,” Kazuki let out a surprisingly bitter remark, his free hand running over his face. He could feel his heart racing as he gripped the cup, something deep in his chest wanting to come out. “The DPS as well as you and Sif finished the demon. We wouldn’t have won if it hadn’t been for all of you.”

“Kazuki,” Seele said, and it seemed as though there were a lot of words there on the tip of her tongue. But she went quiet for a moment, eyes distant with thought, and then she looked at him again. “People are allowed to make mistakes.”

Kazuki stared at Seele in disbelief, slowly shaking his head before putting the cup down. “No, I’m not--” He stopped himself, pinching the bridge of his nose as he recovered. She was dangerously close to something he wasn’t ready to admit, but there wasn’t any running from this conversation. Would opening up and getting everything out now be for the better? Just the thought alone was enough to make him withdraw into himself.

“That isn’t true anymore,” He finally spoke, exhaling a huff of exasperation. “Mistakes get people killed, we learned that the hard way. We have to be smart about who we associate with and who we can rely on, because all it takes is the wrong person doing the wrong thing and then it’s all over.”

She nodded, folded her hands in her lap. “That’s a high standard, Kazuki,” she said quietly. “Do you think you meet it?”

The disbelief was plain on Kazuki’s face, the normally muted expressions giving way to shock. It was a fair question to ask after all--did he meet the same standards he expected out of people? There wasn’t a time in his life that he didn’t constantly ask himself the same thing. The hypocrisy was astounding and above all it was shameful. By the time he finally tore his gaze away, the silence had already replied for him.

“I have to meet it,” He said. “I can’t fail.”

She was silent again, but her eyes never left him. Her hands came up onto the table, she seemed almost to be in prayer. Moments passed, or minutes, before she spoke.

“You’re sinking, Kazuki,” she said softly. “You’ve tied yourself to an anchor and you’re trying to swim, but the longer you hold onto it, the deeper you’re going to go. I said people are allowed to make mistakes. What I should have said was that they need to make them. You can fail. You are going to fail. What matters is what you do after. If you run from failure, if you run from responsibility, then you don’t learn anything. Right now, our friends need us to learn from our mistakes, not hide from them.”

Was that what she thought? Seele was wrong, he wasn’t sinking, there was no anchor, there was a world whose rules had changed and screwed him over at the worst time and it had cost them lives. Did she want him to let more people die? He hadn’t even been around to watch Enos’ death and every time he closed his eyes he could see the poor guy’s lifeless body, his last and only mistake resulted in Aaginim dying in front of his fiance!

Taking in a breath, he didn’t realize how shaky he had become, deciding to look Seele straight on. “When we first went into the room, I broke from the group and went for Priscilica because...” He slowly admitted, finding it hard to actually admit out loud, but it needed to be said. “I thought it was better to save the people we could than to waste resources on someone who clearly would never make it. Had I gone to Aaginim first, he might have lived. You can’t tell me I have to make mistakes, because my mistakes mean people die. Aaginim is dead because I made the wrong decision, because I failed. And that’s unacceptable no matter how you try to look at this. Don’t tell me I can fail, because I can’t. The stakes are too high for it to be any other way.”

She waited until he had finished, didn’t flinch or anger, didn’t fight his eyes. “We could be having this same conversation about Priscilica right now. But she’s alive—would you tell her you should have left her defenseless? Sure, maybe the demon would have left her alone, maybe, if you hadn’t gone to Luci’s side, it would have turned on her instead. In every one of these worlds, is it your fault?”

The answer was on the tip of his tongue, but saying it out loud felt like he was justifying Seele’s pseudo analysis. He perched his chin on his hands, elbows propped up on his knees as he stared down at the table. The previous exhaustion he had was catching up with him again, but even if he managed to work his way out of the conversation and throw himself into bed, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

“I don’t know. All I do know is that Aaginim is dead,” He finally responded. “And that much, no matter how I try to look at it, is my fault. I failed him and Luci. And there’s no changing that.”

“Fair enough.” Seele said. “I don’t agree with you, but maybe it’s not my place to push you so hard to agree with me. Instead, I’m just going to ask that you don’t…” she paused, whatever she meant to say dying there on her lips. “Don’t give up. If you’re going to take the blame, accept the responsibility. People need us now, our friends, even strangers, and the fact is that even if we try and fail, it’s better than not trying at all.”

Kazuki took a hold of his cup again as he leaned back into his seat, drinking to buy himself a little time. That was what he kept telling himself, but he supposed it was easier to let himself drown than to fight. He had accepted that Luci would never forgive him, was there really more to be done than that?

But speaking of trying and failing, there was one thing that definitely applied to. “I don’t think anyone else will be as convinced. I’m not sure they’d forgive what I said,” He sighed. Why didn’t he just keep his thoughts to himself?

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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by DruSM157
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DruSM157 Nobody

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Location:The Riverside- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria



Benkei waved at the girl as she left, and mulled over Alja’s words.

Not gonna ask if you're okay, 'cause that's dumb. You're clearly not. Of course he wasn’t okay. None of them were. They were all stuck in this stupid game, they could die, and they were in the hands of game engineers. Their doom was practically certain.

If you want to talk, I'm always here. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to jump into the river and just end it all now. But there was also the truth, bubbling up in his chest. All that self-loathing and anger, all exacerbated by the constant fighting and drama.

“You know what sucks? You call me boss, people call me a leader. But I’m not one. Hell, I’m not cut out for any of this. I’m a high-school kid. I’m barely making it through exams. I don’t deserve to be called boss, or leader, or anything like that. Everyone I know has some useful skill they can bring to the table. The only skill I ever had was playing this game, the kicker is, none of the controls work anymore. It’s all just physical feedback. What’s worse, is that if all of this ends, and we go back, I have to deal with the fact that I watched others die, then I go back to being treated like trash in my own house. If I stay here, I get killed by a goblin or a bat or a stupid stone golem.” Benkei groaned. There was no good choice. There was no escape from any of this.

”I thought for just one second, that maybe we could make this place better. That we could stick together and build a world for ourselves here. But then the moment I turn around everyone’s fighting, and then I start fighting too. It’s hopeless if this is how it’s going to be."

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Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by Lemons
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Lemons Resident Of The Bargain Bin

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Alja made to put her hand on Benkei's shoulder, then thought better of it, dropping it back down against her thigh. Her voice, when she spoke, was uncharacteristic of her; none of the rising hysteria of the past day, and none of the joviality that suffused it most other times. It was simple. Plain and honest. Because, in Benkei's words, she heard a little bit of herself. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place now. Just like you.

"Look, Benkei." She paused, considering her next words carefully. If she misplaced one, the potential damage could be catastrophic. And, after another moment of consideration, she dropped her Pariah pseudo-accent, reverting to her natural Scottish; but one a little less...thick and aggressive that she'd thrown at Rael. Her vocabulary shifted as well: gone were the relatively simple expressions of Alja, replaced with the kind a college student might use. "I won't preten' to understan' what you're goin' t'rough, because no matter our circumstances, they're goin' ta diverge in a number of ways. Obviously. But I think I kinda know where you're comin' from, 'least in a general sense." She slung herself down, sitting on the edge of the river and dangling her feet down over the clear water. "Feelin' like you're livin' under a shadow all your life, paralyzed with indecision, but terrified to try steppin' out from under the shadow 'cause the world's goin' ta kick ya right back underneath."

She turned up, no longer staring at the river, but directing her serious eyes straight into Benkei's. "But at th' same time, no matter if we're similar or no, I don't think empty platitudes and reassurances will help ya any. Prob'ly just make it worse. So let's try ta game this out, shall we?"

She returned her gaze to the river and picked up a stray pebble from the cobbled streets, launching it into the water as she spoke. "Ya say you're not a leader. But let me as ya somethin'. Who, precisely, do ya think would do any better out of us? It should prob'ly be a tank; they're the ones that have the strength ta shotcall while they're also doin' their job in the party. So that leaves...two others, yeah? So, which one? Rael?" She barked out a brief, scornful laugh. "Not bloody likely! She's brilliant at what she does, but what she does is not teamwork. And then there's me." She laughed. It wasn't as scornful, but there was still an edge of that on the sound. "Tankin'? Yeah, I can do that pretty decent, I like ta think. Last I checked, I was pretty high up on the boards. Not half bad at damage either if I build out for it. Not as good, but...adequate, yeah. But leadership?"

Her laugh was louder this time. "I mean, come on! Ya saw what happened in the boss room! I heard Luci scream and lost it, couldn't hold formation! I'm not bad at the game, I know my limits, and I'm pretty good at thinkin' on the fly. But plannin'? Strategizin'? Yeah, can't say that's in my wheelhouse. But let's say we expand it, past the tanks. Give it to all the party, yeah? Graves' only deal is runnin' right in and hittin' till he falls over. Not someone ya can really rally around! Seele's a great support and all. Kept it together real well. But...'member the spikes room? How she impulsively kept holdin' the ceilin' when she didn't need ta? I think she's in the same camp as I am. Kazuki?" She paused. "He's also a bit like me. Runs in all willy-nilly like, can't really control what he's doin'."

Her voice lowered for just a moment. "I noticed, in the dungeon, ya givin' him orders...or, well not orders, really, but...instructions, occasionally. Don't mistake me, I think he's a great person. Good support. Trustin' my life to him, after all. But...if I'm honest, I don't think he's very good with people. Alex? Well...I like him and all, but I think he's pretty new to the game, yeah? Don't know how much I trust his shotcalling just off that. And that leaves...Kalie." She chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, I don't think she deserves ta be kicked out the party or anythin'. But a leader? I think we all know that's...frankly, totally absurd."

She swung herself back to her feet, dusting her tunic off. "Luci's catatonic, Leaves can't lead for shite--trust me on that one--and Priscilica has her hands more than full with whatever fragments of Prophecy are left over. You're quite literally the best leader we've got on board." her voice softened. "And, Benkei? You're sellin' yourself way short. Your marchin' order and plans were fine. Nobody coulda predicted any of that. We'll make our own decisions in combat--just ya try ta stop me--but that's not on your shoulders. And as for the tavern, if Kalie and Rael weren't at each others' throats and Graves didn't overreact...that's when I'd be concerned."

She cracked her neck, sighing a bit and falling back into her Pariah accent. "But one thing you do have a problem with--as we can see here," she smiled to ensure there was no offense as she stretched her stiff arms over her head again, "is givin' up. Some come on, boss. Buck up, let's get back up to that tavern. You've got some people to keep alive."
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Mcmolly
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Mcmolly D-List Cryptid

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Location: City Streets -- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria


Seele watched the tension in Kazuki…not ‘unwind’ per se, but more rewind, slackening in some places, tightening in others. He was a tangle of things, the poor boy, and most of them he kept shockingly well-hidden. Some, though, came out in his body-language—she swore at one point he was going to crush that innocent teacup in his hands—and others still were there in his voice, in the little tremors and sighs, the pauses and, of course, the things he said.

She was used to meeting people who held others to impossible standards. Kazuki was evidently guilty of that as well, but he also expected that same impossibility from himself. For how well-composed he’d been through the glitch, she guessed he was no stranger to the strain that must have beset him with. They might have been trapped in a strange world, but that didn’t mean they’d left all their problems behind. It was their minds inhabiting Pariah, after all. You couldn’t escape your own mind.
...
You just couldn’t.
...
“Then don’t convince them,” she said, and brightened again. “Show them. Maybe you can’t take back what you said, but there’s an important difference between unsaying something, and undoing it. Or just doing, maybe. For example—”

Seele plucked up another piece of the pastry and popped it into her mouth, chewed—“Mmh!”—and then gestured to the plate.

“I’ve just eaten another bit, and now there’s hardly any left for you. I can’t undo that, I’ll just have to live with the guilt. I could say ' I’m sorry, Kazuki, for eating your very tasty pastry,' —even though I’m not really, it was very tasty—or I could do something about it instead. Like, say, buy you another to replace it, or maybe bake you one myself, if you aren’t averse to eating poison.

“Am I making sense? I think I’m just rambling, sorry—again. My point is, the forgiveness isn’t nearly as important as just making things right.”
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Hero
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Kazuki's gaze lingered on the now-empty plate, a childish thought popping in his head as he held back the urge to pout. There were four pieces, did she really have to eat three of them? She was a guest, yes, but it was usually agreed upon that when sharing treats it was always best to be fair with it. He had initially bought it this morning as a sort of comfort food and had originally planned to eat it later, but he didn't have much to offer once they got here, and green tea was always best eaten with sweets. In hindsight, he should have only served half of it--at least that way he would've been able to still have half when Seele decided to be greedy and set an example.

Still, Seele had a point, even if he lamented the loss of the treat. At the end of the day it didn't matter how he felt or what he said as the one and only goal of his was to survive. If that meant swallowing his pride despite his firm belief that he's right and resisting the urge to say 'I told you so' if one of them died due to that girl, then he supposed so long as it didn't personally affect him or Kazuma he might be able to deal with it. His original point of 'strength in numbers' rang true, and unfortunately that meant beggars couldn't be choosers.

Once he finished his tea, he placed the cup down and muttered a small thanks before giving Seele his full attention once again. "It makes sense," He finally replied, standing up and taking the empty plates and kettle in hand. "I guess the next step is finding Graves, then. If I can get him to be agreeable, then the rest are likely to follow."

He left them in the sink for the moment, returning to Seele. Then again, Graves had left because he thought the group was a time bomb. He stared at Seele for a moment, his mind working on something before he finally let out a sigh. He couldn't believe he was referring so much to her--she was dangerous. Was she a therapist? Maybe a counselor? It wasn't until now that he noticed how much he had opened up, or at least as much as someone like him could manage. Well, at least she wasn't annoying about it.

"But if an apology didn't work, then what counts as 'making things right'?" He ended up asking, giving her a half-shrug. "I'm still firm in my belief and there isn't much that'll change my mind. I also explained the reason behind my logic and it got him even angrier."

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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by DruSM157
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DruSM157 Nobody

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Location:The Riverside- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria



“So come on, boss. Buck up, let's get back up to that tavern. You've got some people to keep alive."

“There’s just no arguing with you guys, is there?” Benkei sighed and shrugged, getting up. It didn’t seem like he had a choice in the matter now; he was stuck with these guys. Not that it upset him; they’d worked together and stood by each other throughout that hellish dungeon and survived. They’d survive this as well.

“Alright, let’s go back.” He and Alja made their way back to the tavern, with Benkei making sure to approach both Alex, Kalie, Sif and Siegfried.

”I owe an apology to everyone, but I’ll start with you two. I was not being a great leader by letting my emotions and my relationship with my brother pushed me to fight with Graves, and I owe him an apology if-” he sighed as Alja nudged him, “when he returns. If we’re going to survive in this game, we’re going to need to stick together and rely on each other. That means being honest and be open to sharing what we have with each other. So, I’ll start by ripping this awful bandaid off: My name is Kazuma Hoshizawa, I’m 17 years old. The only real skills I have relate to the game, and I’ll be honest, I don’t do that great in school. My reputation in the game isn’t that great. I’ve been a big jerk to a lot of players in the past, and I have to grow past that. But I promise I will drop the shitty kid act, and I’ll do my best to treat everyone in this group with respect.”

It was a start, at least. He laid everything out in front of the remaining part of the group: complete strangers.

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